Automatic setup of digital twins for industrial controllers

Abstract

A method for implementing a digital twin for a physical component of an industrial system includes assigning a unique identifier to the physical component, associating the unique identifier with a digital twin representative of the physical component, placing the digital twin of the physical component on a distributed network. The physical component sends the unique identifier to a known resource, which retrieves the network address of the physical twin associated with the unique identifier and provides the network address to the physical component. A secure communication connection is established between the physical component and the corresponding digital twin via the distributed network. The unique identifier may be a quick read (QR) code displayed on the physical component or a bar code displayed on the physical component. Engineering and simulation software for the digital twin may be supplied on the distributed network.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for implementing a digital twin representative of a physical component of an industrial system comprising:
 associating a unique identifier with the physical component and the digital twin representative of the physical component; 
 placing the digital twin representative of the physical component on a distributed network; 
 connecting the physical component to the distributed network; 
 accessing, by the physical component, a uniform resource identifier corresponding to the unique identifier to the distributed network by the user; 
 retrieving the network address of the digital twin associated with the unique identifier and providing the network address to the physical component; and 
 establishing a secure communication connection between the physical component and the digital twin representative of the physical component via the distributed network. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the unique identifier comprises a quick read (QR) code displayed on the physical component. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the unique identifier comprises a bar code displayed on the physical component. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 supplying engineering software for the digital twin on the distributed network. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 in a memory in communication with the distributed network, storing configuration data relating to the physical component and the digital twin. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 updating the configuration data when a change occurs to the configuration of the physical component. 
 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 in a second memory in communication with the distributed network, storing version history of the configuration data relating to the physical component and the digital twin. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the digital twin is placed on the distributed network by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM). 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 developing the digital twin to have the same features as the physical component as the physical component is manufactured. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 securing the secure communications connection using trust certificates associated with the physical component and the digital twin. 
 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 securing the secure communications connection using encrypted communications between the physical component and the digital twin. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 synchronizing operation data created by the physical component with the digital twin. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 recording runtime data created by the physical component during operation of the physical component; and 
 in a memory in communication with the distributed network, storing the runtime data created by the physical component. 
 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 running a simulation of the industrial system using the digital twin; and 
 updating a configuration of the physical component based on results of the simulation.